Readily heat-sealable economy carton



Oct. 25, 1966 K. T. BUTTERY ETAL 3,281,055

READILY HEAT-SEALABLE ECONOMY CARTON 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 16, 1965 Nofmazz Q. Nufezz oct- 25 1966 K. 1'. BUTTERY ETAL 3,281,055

READILY HEAT-SEALABLE ECONOMY CARTON 4 SheBbS-Sheet 2 Filed June 16, 1965 yen mC/M1722 c222 Q /Vzz Oct. 25, 1966 K. T. BUTTERY ETAL 3,281,055

REAUILY HEAT-SEALABLE ECONOMY CARTON 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 16, 1965 @ffy /Z u 5N /gf Ji /Zn ea m MW H Oct. 25, 1966 K, T. BUTTERY ETAL 3,281,055

READILY HEAT-SEALABLE ECONOMY CARTON Filed June 16, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 @ffy United States Patent O 3,281,055 READILY HEAT-SEALABLE ECONOMY CARTON Kenneth T. Buttery and Norman A. Nuyen, both of Kalamazoo, Mich., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Brown Company, a corporation of Delaware Filed `lune 16, 1965, Ser. No. 464,528 9 Claims. (Cl. 229-51) The present invention relates to cartons, and is more particularly concerned with heat-sealable cartons which may be readily and inexpensively erected from integral cut and scored blanks to which a heat-scalable adhesive has been applied, and which cartons may be readily and positively sealed by means of automatic machinery.

Cartons having a so-called flip top cover hingedly connected to the edge of the rear panel, which may be erected with the cover in sealed condition and which may be readily opened by .the removal of a tear strip, have become exceedingly popular, particularly as containers' for food items such as ice cream. Once the tear strip is removed, the cover may be opened for access to some or all of the contents, and may be reclosed for further storage until the contents have been completely consumed. Cartons of the type described which have been available in the prior art, although satisfactory in use, have the disadvantage that they are diicult to construct and seal on automatic machinery.

Prior art cartons are generally provided with an outer front wall member integral with the cover of the carton, having its own flaps extending at the ends thereof. A tear strip is provided as an integral unit and extends from the end of one ou-ter front wall ap, across the outer front wall, and to the end of the opposite outer front wal-l ilap. Such a structure is expensive, difcult to construct into a carton from an integral blank, and requires expensive machinery for the purposes of erection and sealing. Additionally, such cartons require a greater amount of paperboard, thus adding to the material cost. For many purposes it is sufcient for only the cover front wall to be provided with detachable means adhesively affixing the cover to the front wall of the carton. Even where it is necessary for the cover end wall panels to be aiiixed for most purposes aflixing the panels at limited zones is suicient.

It is an object of the present invention to provide cartons which may be formed from integral cut and scored blanks. It is a further object to provide a rtop-opening carton which may be sealed by means of a detachable adhesive strip afxing the cover to the front wall tof the carton. It is another object to provide such a carton which may be readily reclosed when it is desired to store unconsumed contents. It is a still further object to provide a carton ofthe type described which can be readily erected and lsubsequently sealed by means of relatively simple and inexpensive machinery. I-t is an additional 4object to provide a carton having its panels so contoured t-o facilitate assembling and heat sealing the various panels to form a strongly sealed carton. It is still an additional and a special object to provide a cart-on the end panels `of which may be heat-sealed by means of a preapplied heat-scalable adhesive with greater facility than those cartons of the prior art where heat must travel through an intermediate iiap in order to complete sealing of the end flaps. The accomplishment `of the foregoing and additional objects will become more fully apparent hereinafter.

The invention in its preferred embodiment is illustrated by the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. l is a yplan view of a blank cut and scored for assembling a carton according to the invention, additionally Ishowing a portion of an adjacent nesting blank.

FIG. 2. is a plan view of the blank folded over and glued to form a iiattened tube.

FIG. 3 is an end view of the carton with several of the flaps folded into position.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the sealed carton.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the carton of FIG. 4 after the seal has been broken and the cover opened.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the carton of FIG. 6 after the seal has been broken and the cover opened.

According to the invention, a carton is provided having panels including a bottom member having a pair of inner end wall flaps hingedly connected to the ends thereof, a front wall member hingedly connected to an edge of the bottom member having front wall .outer end flaps hingedly connected to the ends thereof, and a rear wall member hingedly connected to the other edge of the bottom member having rear wall outer end flaps hingedly connected to the ends thereof. The lower terminal corners of one outer end flap, preferably the rear wall outer end ap, are provided with a recess or cut-out, preferably rectangular, preferably having its vertical edge substantially colinear with that of an upper terminal corner recess, if present in the same for nesting purposes. The front and rear wall outer end flaps are dimensioned so that one may be folded over and aflixed to the other. The lower margin of the overlapping outer end flap is provided with a heat-scalable adhesive and may be directly adhesively affixed to the inner end wall flap through the lower terminal corner recess of the underlying router end ap. A cover is also provided which is hingedly connected to the upper edge of the rear wall member. The cover is provided with cover flaps comprising cover end wall panels and a cover front wall panel. Detachable means, as for example an adhesive strip, is provided connected to the edge of the cover front wall panel at a severance line or by a tear strip, adhesively aflixing -the core front wall panel `to the front wall member. Additionally, the cover end wall panels may each be provided with a detachable adhesive panel connected thereto at a severance line. When the carton is sealed, the adhesive panel is aixed to one or bot-h of the front and rear wall outer end flaps.

Reference is now made to the accompanying drawings for a better understanding of the invention, wherein all of the parts are numbered, wherein the same numbers are used to refer to corresponding parts throughout, and wherein areas having an adhesive applied thereto are indicated by stippled shading. In a preferred form, the carton of the invention is constructed from an integral blank, as illustrated in FIG. 1, and comprises a bottom panel member 1, a front wall member 2, and a rear wall member 3 hingedly connected to the bottom member 1. A cover 4 is hingedly connected to the rear wall member 3. The bottom 1 is provided at its ends with inner end wall flaps 5 hingedly connected thereto, the front wa-ll member 2 is provided a-t its ends with front wall outer end flaps 6 hingedly connected thereto, and the rear wall member 3 is provided with rear wall outer end flaps 7 hingedly connected thereto.

The cover 4 is provided with end flaps 8 comprising cover end wall panels 9 and adhesive panels 10 connected to the panels 9 :at severance or fracture lines 11. As shown, the lower edges of the adhesive panels 10 descend somewhat below the edges Iof the cover end wall panels 9. However, the adhesive panels may be designed, if desired, so that their lower edges are flush with, -or even recede from, the -line dened by the edges of the cover end wall panel 9. The cover 4 is provided at i-ts forward edge with a cover ap 12 comprising a cover front wall panel 13, parallel severance or fracture lines 14 d'ening a tear strip 3 15 having a tab 16 at one end thereof and detachably connecting the c-over front wall panel v13 to an adhesive strip 17 aixed to the front Wall member 2. The cover front Wall panel 13 is also provided at its ends with end flaps 18 for being adhesively iaffixed to the cover end wall panels 9.

The flaps 7 and 18 at the 'ends of the rear wall member and cover are so designed that they are shorter than the end aps 5 and 6 of the bottom 1 landfront wall panel 2. The rear wall outer end flap 7 may be provided with an upper terminal corner recess 20 of subs-tantially rectangular contour. Consequently, adjacent blanks may be arranged in opposite directions and may be nested together with the edges of the rear upper corner of the inner end wall flap 5 of one blank in edge-to-edge engagement with the edges of the upper terminal corner recess 20 Iof the rear wall outer end ap 7 of the other blank, as shown infFIG. 1.

According to the invention, the rear Wall -outer end flaps g 7 are provided with lower terminal corner recesses 19. As a consequence, when the front wall outer end aps 6 are folded there-over, they may be adhesively affixed directly -to the inner end wall flap 5 through the recess 19.

Although the structure shown and described represents the preferred embodiment, the outer end flaps may alternatively be arranged so that the rear wall outer end flap overlaps the front wa-ll outer end flap. In that case the lower corner recess is provided in the front wall outer end flap. In either embodiment, the lower terminal corner recess may be provided in any shape or form, although a rectangular recess or cut-out is preferred.

In assembling the carton, the carton blank may be folded at the score line between the bottom 1 and rear Wall member 3. The cover front wall panel 13 is then folded over 'and the adhesive strip 17 aixed Ito the outer surface of the front wall member 2,7forming a folded tube, as shown in FIG. 2. Alternatively, the front wall member 2 may be folded over at the score line connecting it with the bottom 1, and the adhesive strip 17 may then be glued to the outer surface of the front Wall member 2 in the same manner. AIn either form the carton so folded occupies very little space, and may be shipped to the packager in this form for filling and sealing.

To erect the carton further for lling, the folded carton t is squared up, as on a conventional squaring machine. One end is then lclosed by first folding in the inner end Wall ap 5. The rear wall outer end ap 7 is then folded over, and the fr-ont wall outer end flap 6 folded over and caused to overlap a-t least the forward portion of the rear wall outer end flap 7. The cover front wall panel flap 18 is then folded over, followed finally by folding over the cover end wall panel 9. Heat is applied to soften the adhesive, causing the front wall outer end flap 6 to become adhesively aflixed to the rear wall outer end flap 7 and also to the inner end Wall flap 5 through the corner recess 19. The adhesive panel 10 becomes adhesively affixed to the rear wall outer end flap 7. In an alternative embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the panel 10 may overlap both the front wall outer end flap 6 and rear wall outer e-ndl flap 7 at the line of engagement between the two flaps.V In such case it becomes adhesively axed to both end flaps, also securing the cover end wall panel 9. If the adhesive panel is located rearwardly, as shown in FIG. 4, it becomes aixed only to rear wall outer end flap 7. Flap 18 in any case becomes affixed to cover end wa-ll panel 9. The carton may then be filled through the end remaining open. The open end may subsequently be closed and sealed in the same manner, to form a completely sealed carton as shown in FIG. 4. Alternatively, the first carton end may be closed and/ or tacked, as with glue, but not sealed, and then both carton ends sealed concurrently or simultaneously after filling of the carton.

The cart-on may be opened by grasping the tab 16 and removing the tear strip 15. As the cover is then lifted open, the cover end wall panels 9 are parted from the adhesive panels 10 at the severance line 11, to form the 4 structure shown in FIG. 5. The cover may be reclosed for storing unconsumed contents.

Although the embodiment illustrated and described in FIGS. 1-5 utilizes a tear strip for detaching the cover front wall panel from the adhesive strip, in another embodiment, illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, an adhesive strip 21 may be utilized which is directly connected to the cover front wall panel 13 at a severance line 22, and which ad- 4hesive strip ispreferably affixed to the front wall 2 at spaced-apart adhesive areas. A centrally located adhesive panel 23 connected at a severance line 25 afxes the cover to the front wall member 2. The front Wall 2 may be provided with cut scores 24 surrounding the adhesive areas to prevent the surface of the front wall from becoming torn when the adhesive strip is removed. In a further improved embodiment, transverse cuts 26 may also be provided to facilitate removal of the adhesive strip. The severance lines in any embodiment may have any desired conliguratiomsuch as :spaced-apart slits, V-shaped slits, or combinations of slits and cuts of any configuration. Although not shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the rear wall outer end flaps 7 are provided with lower terminal corner recesses similar to those designated by the numeral 19 in FIG. l.

Although the embodiments illustrated in the drawings are all provided with covers, the structure of the present invention may also be utilized with carton trays which do not have covers.

It is thus seen that an economical and conveniently erected and sealed carton, if desired of suflicient durability and suitable design for frequent opening and reclosing is obtained,V which carton is produced from an integral blank so designed that an overlapping outer end ap may be directly sealed to an inner end flap through a recess provided in an underlying outer end flap, whereby more rapid and eicient sealing of the carton end is effected and whereby all of the other objectives of the invention are attained.

Although the invention has been described primarily as it would be practiced when a heat-scalable adhesive is carried directly on the carton blank, other types and forms of adhesive and other means of applying the adhesive to effect sealing of the carton may be employed.

Plastic (such as polyethylene) coated or wax coated paperboard, or laminated paperboard with openings for extrusion sealing, may also be employed for the cartons and carton blanks according to the invention.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction, operation, or exact materials or embodiments shown and described, las obvious modifications and equivalents will be appanent to one skilled in the art, and the invention is therefore to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A carton formed'of an integral blank cut and scored to provide a bottom member having inner end wall aps hingedly connected to the ends thereof, a front wall member hingedly connected to one edge of said bottom member having front Wall outer end flaps hingedly connected to the ends thereof, and a rear wall member hingedly connected to the other edge of said bottom member having rear wall outer end aps hingedly connected to the ends thereof, said front and rear wall outer end flaps at each end of said carton tray being in overlapping arrangement, the inner one of said outer end flaps being provided with a lower terminal corner recess and the outer one being heat sealed to said inner end wall ap through said recess.

2. A carton formed of an integral blank cut and scored to provide a bottom member having inner end wall liaps hingedly-connected to the ends thereof, a'front wall member hingedly connected to one edge of said bottom member having front Wall outer end flaps hingedlyconnected to the ends thereof, arear wall member hingedly connected to the other edge of said bottom member having rear wall outer end flaps hingedly connected to the ends thereof, and a cover hingedly connected to the upper edge of said rear wall member provided with cover flaps comprising cover end wall panels and a cover front wall panel having end flaps adhesively affixed to said cover end wall panels, said front and rear wall outer end flaps at each end of said carton being in overlapping arrangement, the inner one of said outer end flaps being provided with a lower terminal corner recess and the outer one being adhesively affixed to said inner end wall flaps through said recess.

3. A carton formed of an integral blank cut and scored to provide .a bottom member having inner end wall flaps hingedly connected to the ends thereof, a front wall member hingedly connected to one edge of said bottom member having front wall outer end flaps hingedly connected to the ends thereof, a rear wall member hingedly connected to the other edge of said bottom member having rear wall outer end aps hingedly connected to the ends thereof, and a cover hingedly connected to the upper edge of said rear wall member provided with cover flaps comprising cover end wall panels and a cover front wall panel having end flaps adhesively aixed to said cover end wall panels, said front wall outer end flap at each end of said carton overlapping said rear wall outer end flap, said rear wall outer end flap being provided with a rectangular lower terminal corner recess, and said front wall outer end flap being adhesively atiixed to said inner end wall ap through said recess, and detachable means adhesively afxing said cover front wall panel to said front Wall member.

4. An integral blank for forming a carton cut and scored to provide a bottom member having inner end wall flaps hingedly connected to the ends thereof, a front Wall member hingedly connected to one edge of said bottom member having front wall outer end aps hingedly connected to the ends thereof, la rear wall member hingedly connected to the other edge of said bottom member having rear wall outer end flaps hingedly connected to the ends thereof, and a cover hingedly connected to the upper edge of said rear wall member provided with cover flaps comprising cover end wall panels and a cover front wall panel having end aps adapted to be adhesively affixed to said cover end wall panels, said front and rear wall -outer end aps at each end of said carton being adapted to be folded in overlapping arrangement when Said carton is erected, the inner one of said outer end flaps being provided with a lower terminal corner recess and the outer one being adapted to be adhesively aixed to said inner end wall flaps through said recess.

5. An integral blank for forming a carton cut and scored to provide a bottom member having inner end wall flaps hingedly connected to the ends thereof, a front wall member hingedly connected to one edge of said bottom member having front wall outer end flaps hingedly connected to the ends thereof, a rear wall member hingedly connected to the other edge of said bottom member having rear wall outer end aps hingedly connected to the ends thereof, and a cover hingedly connected to the upper edge of said rear wall member provided with cover flaps comprising cover end wall panels and a cover front wall panel having end flaps adapted to be .adhesively aflXed to said cover end wall panels, said front wall outer end ap at each end of said carton being adapted to overlap said rear wall outer end flap when said carton is erected, said rear wall outer end flap being provided with a rectangular lower terminal corner recess, and said front wall outer end flap being adapted to be adhesively afxed to said inner end wall flap through said recess, and detachable means adapted for adhesively aixing said cover front wall panel to said front wall member.

6. The carton blank of claim 4 wherein the rear wall outer end flaps are provided with said lower terminal corner recess.

7. The carton of claim 2 wherein the rear wall outer end flaps are provided with said lower terminal corner recess.

8. The carton blank of claim 4 wherein the rear wall outer end flaps are provided with an upper terminal corner recess and said lower terminal corner recess.

9. The carton of claim 2 wherein the rear wall outer end aps are provided with an upper terminal corner recess and said lower terminal corner recess.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,330,045 9/ 1943 Georgiou 229-85 3,144,980 8/ 1964 Larson 229-51 3,146,936 9/1964 Hodapp 229-51 3,197,114 7/1965 Holmes 229--51 JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner.

DAVID M. BOCKENEK, Examiner. 

2. A CARTON FORMED OF AN INTEGRAL BLANK CUT AND SCORED TO PROVIDE A BOTTOM MEMBER HAVING INNER END WALL FLAPS HINGEDLY CONNECTED TO THE ENDS THEREOF, A FRONT WALL MEMBER HINGEDLY CONNECTED TO ONE EDGE OF SAID BOTTOM MEMBER HAVING FRONT WALL OUTER END FLAPS HINGEDLY CONNECTED TO THE ENDS THEREOF, A REAR WALL MEMBER HINGEDLY CONNECTED TO THE OTHER EDGE OF SAID BOTTOM MEMBER HAVING REAR WALL OUTER END FLAPS HINGEDLY CONNECTED TO THE ENDS THEREOF, AND A COVER HINGEDLY CONNECTED TO THE UPPER EDGE OF SAID REAR WALL MEMBER PROVIDED WITH COVER FLAPS COM- 